After a below par performance in the first two seasons of the Hero Indian Super League, FC Pune City were keen on a turnaround in the third season.
However, things did not go as planned for the club. Former Chelsea and Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, who was recruited as the new marquee player, was ruled out with an ankle injury.
Ex-Liverpool and Juventus midfielder Mohamed Sissoko was later signed as his replacement.
Pune currently sit in the sixth position in the table and have failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
Pune’s Anibal Zurdo and Eduardo Ferreira reflected on the current season, admitting that injuries to Gudjohnsen and a few other players hampered the club’s chances. They felt that the format was too short as the players didn’t have enough time to gel and come together as a unit.
“It takes time to gel and start performing as a team,” said Ferreira. “The same happened with us. But the squad are now well settled. If we had more matches, if the league was longer than three months, then we would have performed better.”
Eduardo pointed out that playing 14 matches in two months was a tough task and it could take a toll on the players.
“It is very difficult to play in the ISL. The tournament is spread over just three months, teams have to travel quite a lot. We played a game in Chennai and then we had to travel to NorthEast, so we spent quite a lot of time travelling. Players get tired,” added the centre-back.
The franchise made a poor start to the season and that made it difficult for the team to recover. However, their performance got better as the season progressed.
“We made a slow start to the season, but we got better with time and we picked some vital points towards the end of the season. Unfortunately those were not enough,” said Zurdo.
The striker is also the joint second-highest goal scorer in the league so far, while the other Pune strikers struggled to find the back of the net.
Both players, who have competed in various leagues across the globe, were impressed by the standard of Indian players.
“The league is in a good shape now. It will only get better. It has a mix of good Indian and overseas players.
“I am impressed by the Indian players, especially by their attitude. They have got a lot of skills,” said Ferreira.
